Interlude 1 — Shadows
by thepensword
Summary: There's a man and a girl in Matt's office at midnight. Both of them are puzzles. (Part 2.5 of 'Matt Murdock Saves The World')


Basically I've been obsessed with the Batfam lately and this just happened. Keep in mind, this is like the Pluto of this series; it's not really a part of the normal continuity, and will therefore have no affect on the other stories. It'll be like it never happened. But I had a hankering to write this and so I did. In the future, I may write a longer, more detailed Batman/Daredevil story, but that's the future.

A quick note about Cass: I don't actually know a whole lot about her, so I apologize for any inaccuracies. I needed a reason for Dick to search for legal help, and she just sort of wiggled her way in there.

* * *

Dick Grayson is a puzzle.

He is a puzzle because his lips say happy, his stance says confident, his words say socialite, and his muscles tensing say fight and strength and training.

He is a puzzle because the girl by his side is impossibly loose and impossibly tense both in one moment.

Matt Murdock isn't sure what to do with the young man who is sitting in his office, smelling just faintly of high-end cologne and some sort of wild-animal musk, smelling more strongly of sweat and leather and cereal, an unnervingly silent girl with a gaze so intense that he can feel it tucked against his side.

And he is here in Matt's office, posture loose and fists clenching and it is midnight and Matt's really, really confused.

"Mr. Murdock?" prompts Dick Grayson after the moment that passed following his introduction stretches to somewhat tedious length.

"Yes," says Matt. "I. Yes. Sorry, what are you doing here so late?"

"I need your help," says Dick Grayson. "I hear you're the best."

Matt blinks. "I've seen you on the news."

Dick Grayson shifts awkwardly, runs a hand through his feathery hair, stance slipping for just a moment to worry worry worry before relaxing again as the girl presses gentle fingers into his side with the faint rustle of fabric. "I, uh, yeah. I'm Bruce Wayne's ward."

"I know."

(Neither of them mentions the girl, and she continues to be as silent as a shadow.)

"Well, I guess you would. Um. Can you help?"

Oh. Right. "With what?"

"It's nothing much, but ah….I've heard that you're a very, very good criminal attorney and, well, I—this is a little unconventional, but I need you to help me make sure somebody stays in jail."

Matt raises an eyebrow. "That's not the request I usually hear, Mr. Grayson."

The young man shrugs tensely. "I know. But, well, it's important that he never gets out."

The girl's hand reaches out for Grayson's, and their fingers intertwine. Matt understands, in that moment, that the subject of their conversation's continued imprisonment was especially important because of the girl. Whoever this is, they're connected to the shadow in Matt's office.

Otherwise, Grayson wouldn't be here.

"Who is it?" Matt questions.

Grayson smiles, and even though it's too subtle for Matt to be certain, he imagines the young man giving the girl's hand a squeeze of reassurance.

"David Cain."

* * *

Dick Grayson is a puzzle, but two nights later when Nightwing comes to Daredevil with a similar question, the pieces fall neatly into place and Matt understands.

Several things suddenly make very definite sense. The knowledge is a good feeling.

(Something in the way Nightwing greets him makes Matt suspect that the younger man has a similar knowledge. He's too courteous to mention it.)

* * *

(The girl is still a mystery, yet Matt finds that he doesn't really care to solve her. From what he's discovered of David Cain, any connection this girl has with him can't be good one, and so he lets it lie.

It doesn't really matter, anyway.)

* * *

Hey, so you know how the next fic is supposed to be a crossover with the Flash? Yeah, I have no idea how to write that. I need ideas. Do you guys want the Flash and Daredevil to exist within the same universe or should there be a portal? A Flash crossover also affect the future Young Justice fic that I'm planning, because Young Justice has a Flash of it's own. A Flash crossover also affects future Batman fics, because Batman and Flash are teammates and things are confusing. So. I'll still write it, but I'm not sure how. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

See you next time!


End file.
